Does anyone else have a mini obsession with thai food? Back in college, I'm pretty sure I paid the electricity bill of my favorite local thai place. Without having to master asian cooking, this simple dish hits the spot. Before you look at the ingredient list, I want to warn you it looks like a long list of items, but it really doesn't take that long to prepare. You just need to grab multiple jars out of the pantry at once and throw it in to cook together.
Ingredients for Rice:
1 1/2 cups of brown rice
3 cups of vegetable broth
1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp of salt
Ingredients for vegetables:
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch of rainbow chard, chopped
1 head of broccoli
Ingredients for sauce:
1 (15 oz) can of light coconut milk
1 tbsp of thai red curry paste
2 tbsp of brown sugar (turbinado) *
Juice from 1 lime, freshly squeezed (optional)
Instructions:
1) Combine rice and spices in a rice cooker, give it a quick stir. Add broth and turn on the rice cooker.
2) While the rice is cooking, in a pan broth or water sauté onions until they are translucent. Keep adding liquid 1 tbsp at a time to prevent sticking. Add garlic and rainbow chard. Cook until chard is soft.
3) For this dish, I steamed the broccoli in the steamer tray of the rice cooker for a few minutes, but you can also cook it in the pan with the rest of the vegetables. If you steam the broccoli, make sure you don't leave it on the tray the whole time the rice is cooking, otherwise they will turn into mush. Set aside.
4) For the sauce combine all the ingredients in another pan and bring to a low boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and red curry paste. Remove from heat when the sauce is heated through.
5) When the rice is done cooking add it to the pan with the vegetables. Add the sauce, and stir.
Substitution Note
If you want to skip the sugar, you can use 1/4 cup of raisons or 4 medjool dates. In a blender, blend coconut milk with the dried fruit before cooking it in the pan.